About R. Mitchell

Rich Mitchell is the Sr. Managing Editor of Conservative Daily News. His posts may contain opinions that are his own and are not necessarily shared by Anomalous Media, CDN, staff or .. much of anyone else. Find him on twitter, facebook and google+

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Many murder trials go forward successfully without direct eyewitness testimony. Prosecutors typically must rely on a combination of some physical evidence and a lot of circumstantial evidence in order to get a conviction. Here, the prosecution waited until the body was found before pressing forward. The dump site was where the majority of the physical evidence was found, with some corroborating physical evidence found during searches of the Anthony homes. The circumstantial evidence combined with the physical evidence was insufficient to sustain a first degree murder conviction. The prosecutor over reached. Another factor playing into this is that the jury members probably watched too much CSI and were looking for forensic evidence that is rarely seen in a real homicide case.

However, the evidence was more than sufficient to garner a manslaughter conviction. The state should have proceeded under a theory of involuntary manslaughter. The fact pattern that best fits the evidence is that Casey Anthony accidentally overdosed Caley on chloroform and then panicked. It is highly likely that this was not the first time she put her to sleep with chloroform. If you look closely at the baby/toddler photos that were continuously shown on TV, in the later ones the child has puffiness and dark circles under the eyes. Some also show her with a slightly dazed look. That’s typical of chronic chloroform usage.

Ah ha! Doctor Ford. I acknowledged that very reality by my comment regarding…
“the prosecution MUST make their case based upon OVERWHELMING circumstantial evidence.”

Without so stating my case as to specifics I would suggest that my admonition that…
“Individuals are responsibility for the consequences of their actions OR LACK THEREOF.”
would cover such a possibility as you bring forth and is one reason I believe this crime had to be a familial cover-up. However, the prosecution to be fair, did not make ANY kind of convincing case for any of the possibilities of death. They asked questions of the jurors seeking to lead their thinking to make up for what they didn’t have. I’m no lawyer, but much of the proscution’s behavior in trying to direct the jury could have been twarted by the judge. I believe he does have such latitude, but resisted such as he did not want to open grounds for any challenge.

Just an afterthought observation Doc Ford, but i too think the state went about this prosecution in the wrong way. Had they gone for a second degree murder conviction, they may have well had the option to agree to a reduced charge of voluntary OR involuntary manslaughter By putting all charges on the table at the outset they put heavy pressure ON THEMSELVES to meet the standards for conviction in the JUROR’s minds, which are after all…the only ones that count. I firmly believe that the defense was shocked, as shocked as the prosecution, at the acquittal on all the serious death counts. I think they relied on getting that one juror who wouldn’t relent to hang the jury itself. To do so the defense through all manner of sh*t up against the courthouse walls and…obviously, judging from the result, some of it STUCK!

Cause of death is not needed for a murder conviction. Scott Peterson was convicted and sentenced to death, and there was much less evidence in that case then in this one. I would really question the intelligence of someone who thinks the evidence did not prove casey is guilty of murdering caylee. I would love to hear a reasonable explanation for all of the evidence/facts that does not point to casey killing caylee.

I must come down on Mr. Evans’ side as being accurate. if you ever have the honor to sit on a capital crimes case as a juror you will be overcome by the awesome responsibility such imposes upon you. Your observations of, for example, a Casey Anthony’s demeanor and proven lies will be tempered by the understanding and obligation YOU HAVE to ascertain that the prosecution had made it’s case BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. To do this without actual corroborating witness testimony in a capital crime event the prosecution MUST make their case based upon OVERWHELMING circumstantial evidence. Innuendo and suggestion does NOT make that high standard. The jury rejection of ALL the lesser options proved to me that they functioned at a higher level than ALL the professional talking heads on the boob-tube who stoked OUR EMOTIONS. The statue of blind justice is cloaked so as not to be able to see as a reminder to rule devoid of emotion and based upon facts presented ONLY.

For the record I believe that she was guilty and is a sociopath and pathological liar who was given cover by BOTH her parents and wrongfully so. I make my PERSONAL judgement based upon what facts were presented and her pattern of behavior, but realize that is merely my conjecture. Individuals are responsibility for the consequences of their actions OR LACK THEREOF. Having stated that…, neither MY BELIEF SYSTEM CONCLUSION nor YOURS is the legal standard to be met. And thankfully so!